Using Live Baits for Crappie Fishing
Crappie fishing is an exciting sport, while you can land so many crappies during the spawning season, it can become quickly addictive. Some anglers have stuck to using live baits as lures for crappies either because it became a tough habit to drop or they just like the old fishing methods.
However, live baits have worked for many years as the perfect bait for crappies. There are so many types of live baits available in the outdoors. This is another reason anglers like using live baits; they are free. You can find live baits for crappies such as larvae, nightcrawlers, or worms after heavy rainfall or by spending some time digging in the woods.
Live baits are actually the foods crappies spend all their lives searching for beneath the lakes and rivers. So there are higher chances that crappies will be attracted to them when impaled on hooks. Some common live baits used to lure crappies are as follows:
Crappie Live Baits
Minnows
Minnows are small fish hunted by bigger fish such as crappies for food. Minnows make excellent live bait. They can be caught in shallow parts of lakes or bought from the fish markets for use as live baits. When used as baits, minnows can be impaled with the hooks to enable them to wriggle in the water, an action that will attract the crappies.
Grubs
Using grubs as live baits can help anglers land more crappies because they are a delight as crappie food. Anglers also have a preference for using grubs because they can be used in crappie rigs and or with fishing lines.
Grubs can be found under rocks, in the dirt, and around woodlands where there are rotting pieces of wood lying around. They can also be bought by anglers from the fishing stores that sell live baits. If you do not wish to use all your grubs at once while fishing, they can be fed and kept alive until your next fishing expedition which shouldn’t be too long.
Nightcrawlers
Nightcrawlers are excellent as live bait for crappies. Nightcrawlers live in holes in the ground and come out at night to feed. Experienced anglers have indicated that their preference for nightcrawlers is due to the fact that they can be found in the outdoors in holes or bought at the stores for a longer period usually lasting three or four months. While minnows may only be available for a shorter period annually. Crappies are quickly attracted to nightcrawlers.
Worms
There are many species of worms that can be used as live baits. Worms have been regarded as the perfect live baits for crappies for a long time. Anglers also have a preference for worms because they can be easily sourced or bought from stores for use as crappie live baits.
Crayfish
Some smaller species of Crayfish have also been used as crappie live baits. Crayfish can be caught in shallow parts of lakes or rivers.
When using live baits to catch crappies, it is essential to slide a piece of plastic material after hooking the bait. This prevents the bait from slipping off the hook if it wriggles or due to the underwater current. In some regions, there are also laws that control the use of crappie live baits so be sure to check with the regulatory agencies first to avoid any issues.
